Team 7: Evolution!
by Everyone Like Me
Summary: Separation, although not easy, was necessary. Now, years later, three ninja reunite, stronger, faster, smarter, and crazier than ever. Hold on for the ride of a lifetime. The drama and explosive hard-hitting action is only the tip of the iceberg. Stronger allies. Bigger fights. Darker secrets. Outrageous humor. Bring it on, world! The punks of Team 7 are ready.
1. Heroes' Come Back

**Disclaimer**: _Naruto_ belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I am in no way claiming his characters as my own, but I am playing around with them for my, and your, amusement. Please support the official release. Whatever the hell that means. Ishikari Mayu belongs to TFK-fan118, though. Any other character that you don't recognize probably belongs to me... or TFK-fan118. Got it? Good. Team 7: Evolution! START!

* * *

"Sasuke! Hey, Sasuke!"

The young Uchiha halted, and then turned his dark eyes, facing towards where the call had come from. Jogging his way was one of the foreigners of the Leaf village. Judging from her extended arm, which was waving, and from the wide grin on her face, it was Yasmine and not Yasume. She wore a white trench coat over a white tank top, which was cut to show off her toned stomach. Honestly, he couldn't see why she was so proud of her 'four-pack.' Commonly, she wore black, low rise cargo pants. Though, sometimes, she would wear body-hugging black shorts. Sasuke allowed the dark-skinned foreigner to catch up with him before walking again. She fell into step with him. "Back already?" he asked. "I could have sworn you were sent out only yesterday." Yasmine's grin grew. Sasuke found himself smiling. Over the years, the two had gotten quite accustomed to the other's presence. They weren't as close as she and Hyuga Neji, but at least she _tried_ to fill the space left behind by his two precious friends.

"Yes, well… By the time we caught up to the bandits, my teammate was fed up with the mission, and so Kin kinda went berserk on them. I think that might have been the quickest mission we've ever had." Yasmine tilted her head to the side. "Or maybe it was that one mission with the cat…? Tayu-chan almost killed the thing after Tora scratched her." Yasmine was a certified ninja now, having recently achieved the rank of chuunin, along with the rest of her team. Her Leaf headband was worn like a bandana on top of her long braided hair. She had graduated from the Academy mere months after entering. Her teachers had called her something akin to a sponge. She then had been placed on a team since that team had lost a member. She and her team had reached the rank of chuunin along with the rest of the young ninja. "Anyway, you want to get some lunch with me?" Yasmine asked.

"Sorry, I already ate." He shifted the papers from his left hand to his right. "I'm on my way to deliver this to Master Tsunade." Sasuke frowned and eyed her left sleeve suspiciously. "Besides, after what happened last time, I'm not going anywhere near you when you're eating." Yasmine noticed his gaze and chuckled nervously. She recalled the last luncheon that they had. Her partner had slithered out of her sleeve, to consume a part of Yasmine's meal, and had taken an instant liking to Sasuke.

"Hey, I can't help that CL fell _helplessly_ in love with you at first sight," she replied with a shrug. CL stood for Crazy Legs. How she came up with that name for a _snake_, Sasuke didn't even _want_ to know. "She usually stays inside the sleeve when men are around."

"I don't understand why she's always in your sleeve in the first place." Sasuke cut his eyes to the path in front of him. "She's a summon, so she should go away when she's not needed." Yasmine merely laughed.

"Even though she _is_ a summon, she has always been there. Anko-sensei said that I had to get used to the presence of snakes quickly, so she's always here," she said. "I guess I got so used to her that she just doesn't go home anymore." The Uchiha produced a flat look as they continued walking towards the Hokage building. After a few minutes of silence, Yasmine finally spoke again. She sounded concerned. "Say, you're not acting differently at all today."

"You'd think you wouldn't be worried," Sasuke sarcastically muttered. He didn't give her a glance.

"No, I meant… Well, I thought you'd be in higher spirits today."

"Did I miss something?"

"You don't know…?"

"_Obviously_, Yasmine! Get to the _point_."

"It's weird. Naruto's in the village and you don't know a thing about it." Sasuke gave her an incredulous look, eyes widening and lips parting. The kunoichi crossed her arms as she continued at the same pace. Her eyebrows knitted together, seemingly confused. "I saw him at the front gate and he said he was headed to 'grandma,' or something like that. I wonder why Hokage-sama didn't tell you. After all, you're the one who-" Yasmine stopped talking, noticing that the Uchiha was no longer by her side. She blinked twice, and then looked ahead. Only a sudden dust cloud was left behind the quick shinobi. "_Hm_... I almost wish I could see the reunion." The kunoichi shrugged, and then walked in the opposite direction. "Too bad quelling my stomach is way more important!" She patted her stomach and cheered for food.

**Looks like things are finally going to pick back up.**

0~0

Without knocking, Uchiha Sasuke barged into the Hokage's office, appearing quite angry. "Old woman!" he shouted. "Why didn't you tell me-" Upon realizing who was in the room, his voice box cut off. His clenched hand on the doorknob went limp and slipped off. The shinobi stood there, in the middle of the doorway. His expression of annoyance had transformed into a look of bewilderment. There were a total of four people in the room, but Sasuke's gaze was focused on only one. That wild, blond, and spiky hairstyle, although noticeably longer, was instantly recognized. "Naruto…" Sasuke murmured, taking a hesitant step forward.

At the sound of his name, the shinobi turned to face the Uchiha. Was this really Naruto? Of course it was him. The whisker marks on his cheeks were a dead giveaway. Yet, he looked so _different_. As observed before, his hair had grown longer—top half spiked up, while the rest was combed down. His blue headband had changed to black around his forehead. He had lost the chubbiness in his cheeks, giving him a mature look. His sleeveless black jacket had a big white collar, similar to his previous jacket, with a zipper down the middle. Of course it wouldn't be Naruto without his signature orange color. The zipper was outlined by stripes of orange, and the hem of the jacket was striped orange as well. On his wrists were two of the silver bracelets he had received prior to his departure from the village. His pants, which cut off right above his black ninja sandals, were as dark as his jacket, revealing the other two silver bracelets.

They stared at one another for several seconds before Naruto broke out into his trademark grin. He walked forward, stopping in front of his friend and comrade. "Sasuke…!" he exclaimed loudly. He patted the Uchiha's right shoulder with his left hand. "Surprised to see me?! I bet you're surprised! You're surprised, aren't you?! I _hope_ you're surprised! You should be surprised! Because this was a big surprise!" Apparently, that mature look was just for show. Sasuke raised his fist before striking Naruto's head. "_Ow_! What the hell, Sasuke?! That hurt! _OW_!" The blond shinobi clutched his pounding head, even dropping down to his knees.

"Oh… Sorry about that," Sasuke muttered. "I guess I have to control my strength since you're back."

"You _guess_?!"

Laughter from the adults in the room caused the two shinobi to stop their bickering and turn their focus to them. "I guess two and a half years didn't really change your relationship." Tsunade smirked. Grinning, Naruto stood up from the floor. He and Sasuke moved towards the desk, standing beside Jiraiya. "And, Sasuke, did I hear you say old woman to your sensei?" The Uchiha flinched. The smile on his teacher's face was sweet, but he knew from experience that there was a hot liquid fire boiling within her.

"No," he replied quickly. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, like you said, it's been two and a half years. Not that I'm not okay with it, but I thought the agreed time was a full _three_ years."

"Well, things change," was Tsunade's simple answer. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.

"_She probably hit the booze and made a hasty decision again,"_ he thought, frowning. Then another idea occurred to him. "So… that means Mayu's coming back, too, right?"

"Of course. She and her uncle are expected to arrive tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow…?!" Naruto crossed his arms and poked out his lip. "What are me and Sasuke supposed to do until then?"

"How about _waiting_?" Tsunade suggested. She then waved them away. "Now shoo. Jiraiya and I have something important to discuss."

"Yeah, like who gets top position this time?" Naruto questioned, locking his hands behind his head. He appeared almost bored. Everyone else in the room froze and stared at the blond. Obviously they were surprised. Jiraiya, though, merely patted Naruto on his head, stuttering an admonishment. The younger ninja sighed. "I wish you guys would find something more interesting to-"

"JIRAIYA!" Tsunade growled in her former teammate's direction. The man nearly yelped, taking a step back. His former teammate appeared livid. Sasuke sighed heavily as he stared at the destroyed desk. Great—_another_ one he would have to fix. "How dare you turn him into a little pervert?!" Sure, it was something to get angry about, but did she have to react violently? He should be used to her by now, having put up with her for more than two years. This woman loses her temper like she loses her money—and her mind when she's drunk off her ass. The Uchiha closed his eyes for a moment, ignoring the thrashing his teacher was giving Jiraiya and his squeals of absolute pain. This development did not bode well for him. Could two and a half years of training have turned Naruto into a twisted version of Jiraiya, himself? Sasuke opened his eyes, glancing at his teammate. The blond snickered, watching the commotion that he had caused. He nudged Sasuke with an elbow.

"Check it out, Sasuke," he said. "_This_ is how old ninja get it on." If anything, the pummeling noises increased. "Who knew Pervy Sage and Granny were into S&M?"

"_Hm_…" Sasuke closed his eyes again as he cupped his right elbow with his left hand. His thumb pressed against his bottom lip. _"Nope, this perverted humor Naruto has definitely doesn't bode well. I'm probably going to have to fi__x a lot of things at this rate."_ Those depressing thoughts caused the Uchiha to sigh again. _"I _really_ hope Mayu didn't pick up any weird traits from her uncle…"_

"For the love of God, one of you brats _help me_!" Jiraiya reached a hand out from the twisted position Tsunade had his body in. Naruto wagged a finger at him.

"_Ah, ah, ah_, Pervy Sage! You didn't say the safe word!"

"_Please, please don't let me be the only normal one!"_ Sasuke silently chanted.

Shizune merely watched the chaos, nervous smile tugging her lips.

0~0

"_Ah_, Sasuke, it's so good!" Naruto tried to speak with his mouth full. Said Uchiha chose not to reply. Instead, he rolled his eyes. His blond teammate quickly gulped the rest of the broth, and then slammed the bowl down. He breathed a satisfied breath as he licked his lips. "I haven't had Ichiraku ramen in so long!" He grinned, and then burped. "Oh man—it's like an orgasm in my mouth!" Sasuke rolled his eyes again. He doubted Naruto even knew what that really meant or felt like. With a personality like the one he had picked up from Jiraiya, no woman would want to be anywhere near him, let alone sleep with him.

"_Great… A perverted virgin,"_ he thought. The dark-haired shinobi set his glass of water down on the counter. After leaving the Hokage's office, this was the first place they had come to. Despite already eating, Sasuke had come along. And why wouldn't he? It had been over two years since he had last seen one of his teammates. Hell, even Hatake Kakashi had seemingly disappeared once it was announced to him that his team had split up. The copy ninja probably took it well. Sasuke hadn't been there when Kakashi had received the news, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the jounin was a bit happy about not taking care of three brats.

Sasuke released a sigh. Still, he couldn't wait until everyone was reunited again. The shinobi found himself smiling at the thought. There was no doubt that Mayu would probably demand a new team picture once they were all together again. "Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto got his attention. He had just finished ordering another bowl. He was on his eighteenth bowl. It appears that some things would never change no matter how much time passed by. The Uchiha made a noise of acknowledgement, letting his teammate know he was listening. "So what's been up with you this whole time? Getting trained by Granny must have been-" Naruto must have noticed his expression drop.

"I don't want to talk about that right now," Sasuke glowered down at the table. A nervous chuckle came from Naruto. "Besides, we shouldn't talk about our time apart until Mayu gets back."

"Come to think of it, she would be really upset if we left her out," he mused. "Fine, fine—I'll refrain from telling you about my awesome training with Pervy Sage." He was silent for a moment, and then he grinned. "What about everyone else—the other teams? Since you've been here this whole time, you should know right? Want to visit everyone?"

"That would pass the time," Sasuke murmured. "Okay, we will after you're finished eating. Let me warn you, though. Some are out on missions."

It was two hours later when Naruto finally decided he was full. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke walked beside his teammate. The blond was not exactly happy that he had spent so much money. However, the owner of the ramen stand was quite happy that his favorite customer had returned. "Anyway-" Finally, he stopped complaining about his loss of money. "-Who are we gonna see first?"

"I'm not sure about everyone else, but I know one person who is in the village. Surely, he's still there," Sasuke stated. "I'd imagine you want to see him first." Before Naruto could question who exactly it was that his teammate was talking about, the Uchiha veered to the left. Without a word, he opened the door to a familiar business establishment. The blond ninja blinked. Of course, he had never been in here before. He never had a use for flowers before, after all. Besides, he was certain that Yamanaka Ino worked here when she wasn't doing anything else important. But Sasuke had said 'him,' didn't he? Why were they here? The bell rang as they entered the shop.

The store looked as though he expected—flowers were _everywhere_. They weren't the same flowers either. They were all different in colors, shades, and sizes. Naruto blinked again, moving to stand by Sasuke's side. Since when did Ino cut and dye her hair red? "_AH_?!" He pointed a finger, just as the worker finished saying a greeting. "Gaara?!"

"Naruto…?" The red head suddenly smiled. It was small, but there. "You're back." The excited shinobi dashed over to the counter as Gaara moved from behind it. "When did you get back?"

"A few hours ago," he answered, grinning. "What are you doing here? Your punishment isn't over yet?"

"No, my punishment has been over for a while now," Gaara stated. "I work here."

"Quit yanking my chain! _You're_ working in a _flower shop_?"

"Naruto." Sasuke finally spoke up, stepping by his side. "Gaara is not a ninja." The grin faltered on the blonde's face. "Once his punishment was officially over, he decided he didn't want the life of a ninja. He's just a regular civilian now."

"No way!" Naruto cried. His blue eyes turned back to Gaara, looking for confirmation. "Is that true, Gaara?"

"Indeed it is," he replied. Naruto, about to comment, was interrupted by the sound of the bell chiming. "Good afternoon, and welcome to Yamanaka Flower Shop!" The blond reared his head back. He had never heard Gaara speak with such enthusiasm. Then again, he was in the customer service world of business. Knowing Ino, she probably had forced him to speak this way to customers. Speaking of the customer, a surprised gasp caused Naruto and Sasuke to turn. Violet eyes blinked rapidly at them. The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. Was that recognition? It couldn't be. He didn't know any girl with fiery red hair.

The girl, looking to be in their age group, hastily shook her head, and then cleared her throat. "S-Sorry about that," she murmured. She put on a smile and walked forward. "I was expecting a woman to be working here."

"Yamanaka-san usually works in the mornings. But I assure you that I am capable of servicing you as well," Gaara said. "How may I help you?" Both Naruto and Sasuke parted, allowing the young woman to step up to the counter.

"_Um_… Let's see… I'm looking for a flower that means friendship." The customer grinned.

"I see," the red head responded. "May I ask what the relation is? Close? Distant? New? Old?"

"Friends..." A thoughtful look crossed the girl's face. "I'd say we're pretty close, though it has been awhile since I've seen them."

"Just a moment—we have several types of flowers with the meaning you speak of." Gaara guided the customer away from the counter and the two shinobi, and over to a glass case. As employee and customer discussed the flowers, Naruto and Sasuke had their own little hushed conversation. According to Naruto, he was getting a weird feeling from the girl, too. It wasn't necessarily a strange feeling. It was almost as if this wasn't the first time he had seen her. Sasuke watched her carefully. However, he was still convinced that he hadn't come into contact with her before.

The two shinobi watched the exchange until the girl was ready to buy. In Gaara's hand there were two single flowers. Both were mixed in color, but the bases of the flowers were orange. Sasuke had overheard Gaara call them Zinnia. They meant thinking of a friend or something like that. The girl gave him a polite smile, causing his brow to rise. However, she merely looked away to pass the money to Gaara. The flowers were wrapped and given to her. "Thank you. Please come again."

"Will do!" The girl took her flowers and left the store.

Naruto waited a few seconds before questioning why Gaara didn't want to be a ninja, anymore. This discussion—or rather debate—lasted more than an hour. The blond had not been convinced that someone as strong as the red head could _want_ a life without fighting. Exasperated, Gaara finally sent the two away. Well, Naruto had been kicked out while Sasuke had calmly followed after. Rubbing his head, the shinobi dusted the sand from the back of his pants. "He didn't have to use his sand like that!" he grumbled. Naruto had _literally _been kicked out.

"You shouldn't be too surprised," Sasuke remarked. "After all, Gaara has been with the Yamanaka family for a while now." Naruto grumbled some more. Something about sand and flowers not mixing. The Uchiha smirked. "I know someone else who's in the village."

"Some_one_ else…?" Naruto repeated. He groaned. "Why aren't any _full_ teams here? I should have gotten a red carpet or something!"

"Your fault for coming back so early."

"I _could_ leave and _not_ come back!"

"Right, right."

"I see you guys are still troublesome," a familiar, yet slightly different, voice caught their attention, effectively stopping their banter. "Good to see you back, Naruto." The two shinobi stopped walking and turned to see who had spoken. They were met with the bored expression of Nara Shikamaru. He had grown taller, but otherwise, he looked the same. Still had a chuunin jacket, too. His headband was sewed into the left sleeve of his black shirt. "When did you get back?"

"Hours ago. What about you?"

The chuunin stopped in front of them. "A minute ago, actually. I'm on my way to the Hokage." Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes. "The Kazekage is as troublesome as ever."

"_Hm_? The Kazekage?" Naruto blinked in confusion. What's a guy like Shikamaru being in association with the leader of Sand village? Seeing his teammate's perplexed expression, Sasuke spoke to explain.

"Shikamaru is the liaison between Leaf and Sand. He goes there frequently because of it," he stated.

"It's a pain taking orders from such bossy women." The chuunin dug his hands into his pockets and yawned. "After I hand in my report, I think I'll take a well-deserved nap."

"You're still so lazy," Naruto muttered. "I can't believe you made it to chuunin at the same time as me." Shikamaru almost rolled his eyes, and would have if it had not been too taxing.

"Everyone's a chuunin in our age group now," he grumbled, instead. Surprised, Naruto turned to his teammate and asked if it was true. "Of course it's true," Shikamaru answered for him. "In fact, I'm pretty sure Mayu made it to chuunin, too."

"How do you know that?" Naruto demanded to know.

"I helped out with last year's chuunin exam, too. It was hosted in the Sand village. Her name showed up on the list of new chuunin." The lazy ninja finished his explanation with a yawn. Naruto sighed heavily. "Sasuke should have become a jounin like Neji, but he gave up in the middle of it."

"What?!" Naruto nearly exploded. "You could've gotten promoted to jounin?!"

"Thanks for telling my business, Shikamaru," Sasuke mumbled. The Nara shrugged, uncaringly. "Yeah, I gave up. I didn't want to leave you and Mayu too far behind." The blond crossed his arms and frowned. To him, it sounded as if the Uchiha was teasing him. He then blinked. A thought suddenly occurred to him. They had switched topics so quickly, but he still remembered something Shikamaru had said.

"Wait… The Kazekage's a woman?"

"You didn't know that?" Sasuke questioned. "_You're_ the one that's been out of the village!"

"Well, I didn't exactly go to any of the major villages, okay? Jeez…" Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his head. His teammate sighed and shook his head.

"You're hopeless," he said. "The Kazekage is Temari."

"Temari…? Why does that sound familiar?"

"She's Gaara's older sister."

"…"

"…" Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"…" Sasuke shook his head again.

"_EHHHHHH_?!"

0~0

The two young teens finally came to a halt. Unfortunately, there were no other members of the Rookie 9 in the village. Team Gai was also out on a mission. Naruto had to settle for the familiar scenery instead. They had visited the Hokage Monument and his old apartment. It had gotten quite dusty since the last time he had been there. When asked why his friend and teammate hadn't taken care of the place, Sasuke merely shrugged and replied that he had better things to do. So after opening the windows to his apartment and leaving his things, the two shinobi had left and winded up here. "This place hasn't changed at all," Naruto remarked. Beside him, Sasuke nodded.

Their current location was the place where Team 7 had actually become a team. Naruto smiled as memories of this place flooded his mind. His blue eyes stared at the three stumps. A chuckle bypassed his lips. If he could go back, he wouldn't change a thing. Well, actually, he would rather not be tied to the middle stump again. That had been humiliating, especially when his teammates and sensei had forgotten about him, too. Luckily, his female teammate had come back—a few hours later—and released him, smiling apologetically all the while. Looking back now, he couldn't believe that he believed the girl to be Haruno Sakura.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed. The Uchiha looked his way. "You remember that song Mayu sang when we officially became a team? What was it again?" Sasuke crossed his arms and scoffed.

"Ridiculous?" he murmured. "Don't tell me you want to sing it?"

"What are you—a mind reader now?" His teammate merely rolled his eyes, causing Naruto to huff. "It was a cool song, damn it!"

"I would rather not hear it again."

Naruto huffed again, feeling his eyebrow twitch. Sasuke hadn't changed at all. Well, his appearance was a little different. For instance, he had gotten taller, too. It was a bit disappointing to realize that Sasuke was still taller than him, though. His hair was the same style, yet it had grown. The part of hair that roughly framed his cheeks had gotten longer, but one of them was longer than the other—so much that the end touched his collarbone. As per usual, his dark blue short-sleeved jacket had a large collar, which hid both sides, and the back, of his neck. The jacket had two silver buckles that held it together at his lower torso. His family's crest was on the right shoulder's sleeve. His forehead protector was loosely tied around his neck. Underneath the jacket, he wore a mesh shirt—the sleeves were longer than his jacket's sleeves, reaching his elbows. His pants were black. The bottoms were tucked into his black boots. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke chose to wear all four of the silver bracelets on his arms—two on each.

The blond shinobi shifted his gaze away from his teammate and focused his eyes above. The sun had already begun to set, making the sky a mixture of blue, orange, and yellow. He sighed. Less than a day away and his team—his family—would be reunited. Well, if Kakashi would show up, that is. "Hey, Sasuke—where is Kakashi-sensei? Haven't seen him since I've been back."

"I don't really know. I didn't think Master Tsunade sent him out on any missions lately." He sighed. "But I haven't seen much of him since our team split up." He uncrossed his arms and walked forward. Sitting, he pressed his back against the first stump. "It's been awhile, hasn't it, Naruto?" The blond nodded his head and copied Sasuke's movements. "I remember a time when I was indifferent towards everyone. For years, that's how I felt about pretty much everything." The Uchiha draped his right arm over his right knee. "And then in less than a year of being on a team, I completely changed."

"No the hell you didn't! You were still a douche!"

"I meant my _outlook_, jackass. Don't make me hit you."

"Still a douche, too…"

"Anyway, I'm saying it'd be good to get back together," Sasuke continued. Naruto noticed his eyebrow twitching and silently chuckled. He could tell his teammate's patience had increased while he was gone. His training with the Fifth Hokage must have been hell. For someone like Sasuke, who loved things in order and despised tardiness and alterations to routines, he must have endured quite a bit. The Pervy Sage had told him many things about his former female teammate. Apparently, her poor gambling skill was not the only problem. "And it's a chance for me to separate from that woman's hectic training." That only confirmed it. Naruto openly grinned, moving his hands behind his head.

"I can't wait!" he suddenly exclaimed. Sasuke looked at him as if he was insane, but the blond ninja didn't care. It was great being back, and it would be even greater once he met up with _everyone_. But above all else, he definitely wanted to see how much further he and teammates had come since the separation. "I wonder if Mayu's gotten more…" Sasuke eyed him. Naruto's grin widened. "You _know_~!" He moved his eyebrows up and down as he his hands moved as though he was shaping pottery.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes. He almost couldn't believe how much more perverted Naruto had become. Well, he supposed, at his age, it was normal to notice the female part of the population. Still, his sudden interest in the opposite sex seemed as though it was more than it should be. Sasuke silently sighed, already foreseeing trouble—and possibly pain—in the future. Naruto had probably developed his Sexy Jutsu further. No. Definitely was the right word.

"Do I have to scream and shout in order for you guys to notice me?" Sasuke's eyes expanded upon hearing the new voice. Sharply he turned his head and looked up. Violet eyes stared down at him. The smirk on the stranger's face caught his attention next. The young ninja quickly jumped away from the stump. To his left, Naruto stood, staring at the newcomer as well. It was her hair that he noticed the third time. Red. She was the girl from the flower shop. She stood up from her crouched position and placed her hands on her hips. "I've been following you guys for hours. Do you suck at detection or am I just that good?"

"_What is this?"_ Sasuke thought, fingers clenching. _"I can't sense her presence even though she right there in front of me!"_ A ghost…? The shinobi quickly wiped the thought from his head. He didn't believe in that. Still, what was up with this red-haired chick? Ninja were trained to be silent. That was a given. However, no one could be _completely_ silent. Sasuke, himself, had learned many detection tactics in his time in the village. This person—he didn't hear anything from her, though. He couldn't sense her except with his eyes.

"What do you mean following us for hours?!" Naruto pointed a finger. "Who are you?!" Judging from the headband tied to her around her forehead—though her bangs partially covered the symbol—she was a kunoichi of the Leaf. However, she hadn't worn it the first time he had seen her. That, or the hip pouch and the shuriken holster on her left thigh. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Suspicious. Besides all that, she had stated that she had been following them. If that was true, he really couldn't detect her presence. That thought made him frown.

Instead of answering Naruto's question, the kunoichi swiftly moved her arm. She had thrown… _flowers_ at them. Sasuke had caught the single flower with his index and middle finger. Naruto had caught his with his teeth. Both shinobi blinked. These were the flowers she had bought earlier. Her scoff was heard. "You still don't know?" she questioned. "Well allow me to fill you in." Her hand rose, palm forward. "Copying Power! Makeup!"

… What?

Immediately following the teenager's exclamation, she began moving her arms around and twirling on top of the stump. She was humming, too… Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a 'WTF' look. The blond poked his temple several times with his index finger, and then crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue after he removed the flower from his teeth, implying that the girl had escaped the mental asylum. From the way she was behaving, the Uchiha wanted to agree. It was when the two turned back to the performing kunoichi did they realize that she was changing. The red hair was turning black. Her fair skin was changing to a warm shade of brown. She finished her performance by forming a half circle with her arms, and then posing in a really ridiculous way. This… could only be one person. Her eyes snapped opened, revealing blue.

"I am the kunoichi warrior of cats and fire—Ishikari Mayu! In the name of the feline, I will punish you!"

Sasuke's eye twitched. He should have known. Only Ishikari Mayu would come up with such a silly returning debut. It was worse than Naruto expecting a red carpet. The kunoichi jumped down from the stump without making a sound. Ah, he understood now. She was as stealthy as a cat—maybe even more so. Mayu stood up to her full height again and smiled. "MAYU!" Naruto shouted in glee. He rushed towards her, arms open wide. She could not stop the fierce embrace even if she had tried. After a few moments, he released her. "Squishy," he commented.

"… I see you're no better at tact," Mayu chuckled lightly. Naruto's twisted personality was going to be fun to get used to. Her eyes turned to Uchiha Sasuke. Her arms fell from her blond teammate's body, and then she walked over to her other male teammate. "Sasuke…" Smiling, she hugged the young Uchiha and closed her eyes. It felt _so_ good to be back with her teammates. "I missed you guys," Mayu murmured. She felt Sasuke's arms slowly come around her as well. Stupid cocoon, he remarked. Her eyebrow twitched, but she suppressed her irritation. He was not going to ruin this reunion by pissing her off. Finally, the kunoichi released him and grinned. "You missed me, too, right?"

"What the hell was _that_?" Sasuke had ignored her question completely. His finger pointed to the stump she had performed on. The kunoichi shrugged, and then grinned.

"Cute, wasn't it?"

"Borderline _retarded_, actually."

"Why are you such a jerk?" Mayu crossed her arms and pouted. "Sure it was spontaneous-"

"That was _obviously_ planned," Sasuke stated, twirling the flower's stem between his fingers. He was ignored.

"-And I just wanted to show you guys a good time, but honestly I'm feeling so attacked right now! That's the last time I try to entertain!"

"That's a lie," Naruto remarked. He placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her blue eyes to turn his way. "Good to have you back, Mayu! You look good."

"You think so…?" She smiled brightly. Her blue eyes shifted down for a moment. A deep purple tube top covered her chest and the top half of her belly. On top of that was a long-sleeved mesh shirt, tucked into her shorts. Matching the tube top in color, she wore a sleeveless unzipped jacket. The hem of the jacket reached her mid back. Her black fingerless gloves extended pass her elbows. However, on the right glove her index and middle fingers were covered. Her uncle had been gracious enough to sew some black fabric because of how much she trained with her bow. Her black shorts stopped mid-thigh with her shuriken holster strapped to her left leg. On her feet, she wore black ninja sandals. Regarding her hair, it had become longer, and so to deal with that, she gave herself a long braid and left her bangs to frame her face. The silver bracelets were around her ankles and right wrist. One on each leg and two on her wrist.

"Were you really following us for hours?" Sasuke questioned.

"_Please_…! I have more important things to do than to follow two teenage boys around for hours on end." Mayu rolled her eyes. The Uchiha scowled. "When I realized that you two were just visiting old places, I went back to my apartment and took a nap. I heard you guys when you dropped Naruto's stuff off, and then I followed you again. My uncle stayed to have a chat with the Hokage."

"Where'd you get the look from?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, we passed a village on the way here. An ex-samurai in that village is associated with my uncle. They sparred. As an assessment of my abilities, Uncle Mori made me fight the guy," Mayu explained.

"Was he strong?"

"In all my life, I have never fought against a samurai… I rather not do it again if they're like him," she muttered, flatly. "He acted all sweet, but once he started fighting—scary business, man." The kunoichi placed her hands on her hips. "I probably wouldn't have survived if it hadn't been for uncle's training."

"How was his training?" Sasuke raised a curious brow. "Did you learn more things about your clan?" Mayu suddenly frowned, eyes turning to the ground. "What?"

"First rule of Uncle Mori's training… Don't talk about Uncle Mori's training," she murmured, body twitching. Her teammates blinked twice at her words. That was weird. "What about you guys?" Naruto grinned and gave a thumbs up.

"My training was awesome! I learned so much stuff!" he boasted. Sasuke, though, shifted his eyes.

"I'd rather not talk about my training with that woman," he frowned. Naruto and Mayu chuckled, causing the Uchiha's eyebrow to twitch. "Besides, the training doesn't matter. It's the results that are important." The two ninja smirked and nodded.

"_Ah_, you're right about that, Sasuke," Mayu agreed.

"The only way to really know it… is to see it," Naruto stated.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" The kunoichi crossed her arms, already having an idea.

"I say we find that guy and-" Naruto began.

"-Demonstrate the results of our training," Sasuke finished.

"You guys just read my mind," Mayu grinned. "Let's go track down that guy."

0~0

Finished July 1, 2014

There you have it! The first chapter to _Team 7: Evolution_! Now, obviously things are going to be quite different from canon, so please, don't expect too much canon in this story. Circumstances _and_ characters will be different from their canon counterparts. If you do not like this, do not continue reading. Major events that you, the fans, know will not take place in order.

**Clothes**: As you've read in this chapter, some characters are going to have different outfits and I will do my best to describe them, even though I pretty much suck at it. :D However, some characters clothes will remain the same. Like Kakashi. Yeah, he's probably going to stay the same.

**Other characters**: I can't wait until everyone else comes in. It's going to be a blast… and funny. If you truly enjoyed the prequel, you'll definitely enjoy this one as well. The development of the other characters based on what happened in the last story is vital to how things play out.

**Manga VS Anime based**: Uh… Honestly, it's probably going to have both elements, but definitely won't have the fillers. If it does contain filler, it will be of my own creation, and even then, they'll somehow tie in with the story. Somehow.

Just a fair warning, though. I'm older. As the story progresses, it's going to contain darker themes, mature situations, and probably some pretty off the wall shit. The characters are ninja, teenagers, and mostly everyone they come across, in canon too, are insane in some form or another. So if you're here to just laugh, this is not the story for you. Sure, there will be humorous moments, as I can't contain myself, but it's gonna get dark.

Anyway, that's about it for now.

Next time: _Test Your Might_

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Constructive criticism? FIRE AWAY!


	2. Test Your Might

He halted. Once again, his eye drifted from the words of his book. That had been the fourth time already. Internally, the man sighed. It seemed that he wouldn't be able to go home like this. He had planned on finishing his novel. Sure he had read this certain book many times before, but he had wanted to enjoy his night off. _"My, what persistence…"_ he thought. Hatake Kakashi shut his orange book as he continued walking. The jounin had been followed since a few hours ago. Whoever had been shadowing him was good at their stealth. But not good enough. With a narrowed eye, the man slipped his book in his hip pouch.

It would be a risk to confront the stalkers now. Too many people were about—many were civilians. The best thing to do would be to lead them out in the open, pretending he was not aware of their presence until the moment of confrontation. And so Kakashi calmly walked, careful to keep his pace the exact same. The further he traveled from town, the quieter it became. However, it had also become easier to sense the two that followed him. Finally, the jounin came to a stop. An open field with a small pond was the set up. Remnants of exercise were scattered about the area—a training field.

Finally, Kakashi came to a halt. Slowly and silently, he breathed out, temporarily warming his mask. Time to get this over with, he thought. He abruptly turned, a one eighty degree angle. His eye narrowed in the direction of the trees. The branches of the woods proved to be their cover. He still hadn't been able to pinpoint their exact location. "_Mah, mah_… Hiding will only delay the inevitable," he spoke up. After a beat of silence, the jounin heard the rustling of leaves. To blurs shot out of the thicket. So they had been lower, had they? Kakashi scrutinized the two figures from a distance. Though they had come out of hiding, they were still shrouded in darkness by the shadow of the trees. Then the wind shifted and the moon peeked out from behind the clouds.

"Kakashi-sensei," the one on the left began with a trademark grin.

"We'll have your mask," the one of the right finished, voice less enthusiastic and more neutral than his partner.

Kakashi merely stared, jaw becoming slack. It had been years since he had heard their voices or seen their faces, and yet he knew immediately. Their appearances had only altered a bit, however, there was no denying their identities. Inside, his heart jerked a bit. Seeing them after so long had quite an effect on the man. His knucklehead, his emo—two out of three of his students were standing before him. But where was his strategist? The last of the trio had not been present. He hadn't sensed a third presence either. Perhaps she had yet to arrive back in the village. After all, it hadn't been a full three years yet. The Hokage had informed him that the time apart would be no more than three years, after all. Since his knucklehead had come back, she must be on her way. "I see you two have grown," Kakashi stated with a wave of greeting. It had been more like a two-fingered salute than a wave, though. "_Yo_, Naruto, Sasuke."

The blond of the two shifted forward, fist clenched in preparation. That's when it came back to him. He had been so focused on their unexpected arrival that he had neglected their greeting entirely. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke had come for his mask. The jounin lowered his arm slowly, regarding the two with a calculating eye now. Nostalgia out of the way, they both looked ready for a battle. "Don't worry. We'll take it even if we don't come at you with an intent to kill," Naruto told him as he adjusted his thick collar. Kakashi couldn't help but to think of the past because of Naruto's confident words. The jounin recalled telling them something similar for their first exercise together. He smiled, feeling a bit excited. The Hokage hadn't given him any missions for the last couple of days, and so this situation was a welcome. Besides, he had wanted to see the results of their training without him anyway.

"Shall we begin?" Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing his Sharingan.

"Here I come!" Naruto reached into his weapon's pouch. Three shuriken were launched from his hand. The projectiles whizzed through the air, moving towards Kakashi at an impressive speed. However, the jounin saw the oncoming attacked and dropped to the ground on all fours. Once the shuriken passed over his head, he threw his own set of shuriken from his position on the ground. The two shinobi hastily jumped, using their chakra to propel themselves away from harm. Anticipating this, Kakashi flung a few more shuriken. From his vantage point, he could see both pairs of eyes widen. Then Sasuke kicked at his teammate, whom had brought his arms up in an X formation. The impact of the kick had separated the two, effectively dodging the throwing stars.

"_Interesting…"_ Kakashi stood up to his full height as the two younger ninja landed on solid ground again. They seemed to be in sync despite the years apart. The jounin shifted a bit. Without a word, the two teens dashed forward, both rearing their arms back to throw their punches. The silver-haired man moved just a bit to the left, dodging Sasuke's attempt. He also grabbed onto Naruto's wrist before punch could make contact. Kakashi lifted his leg, knocking the young Uchiha away with the heel of his foot. He felt his heel make contact with the boy's jaw. Then he concentrated on the blond. Using his elbow, he block the younger ninja's kick. He quickly released Naruto's wrist in favor of striking him in between the eyes with his knuckles. The sound of him yelping had been expected. The familiar popping sound of a shadow clone being destroy had not. _"A clone…?!"_

Kakashi had no time to be surprised. Sasuke had recovered and was now aiming his attacks at him. The jounin grimaced, deflecting and evading the would-be strikes. He had trained with the Fifth Hokage. The woman had monstrous strength behind her punches. Had Sasuke picked up on it during his time with her? He would rather not find out the hard way. Finally, the jounin saw an opening and struck Sasuke's temple. To his utter shock, he, too, popped out of existence. Another one?! The man's awareness went into overdrive at that moment. He sensed an attack coming his way. Quickly, he made a switch. From the safety of a nearby tree, Kakashi watched his substitution—a log—become embedded with a flurry of shuriken and kunai. "A trap…?" he couldn't help but mutter, slightly impressed. Their stealth had improved substantially during the period of separation.

"That's right, Kakashi-sensei!"

Before he could react properly, the jounin had been struck. A hard kick to his spine had sent him from the tree branch, and tumbling on the ground below. As he rolled, he couldn't help but think that the voice had been familiar to his ears; it had not belonged to either Naruto or Sasuke. However, he had not sensed a presence behind him at all. Such a feat… Kakashi flipped once, gaining control of his body. Only to have his legs kick out from underneath him. It happened fast. On just instinct, his arm shot out in an effort to perform a hand stand. He saw the flash of yellow, causing his eyes to widen. A clone of his student had tripped him up, only for another one to tackle his body, sending them both crashing to the ground. Groaning, the man hastily jumped back, putting some distance between the young ninja. The crash had dispelled the clone and only Naruto remained.

For a few tense moments, Kakashi surveyed his surroundings. Naruto stood in front of him. Sasuke stood to the left of him. He had most likely been the one to release the barrage of shuriken. The boy always had a fascination with using projectiles. Then there had also been that unknown being in the tree. Even now, the jounin could not sense her. _"Mayu…"_ he thought, frowning. The girl's stealth had become great. So great that she seemed to be invincible to his senses. Also, from a distance, she could use her bow. Kakashi hadn't forgotten her long-ranged style either. _"Things were easier when they were younger…"_ Inaudibly, he released a sigh. _"Looks like I need to get a bit more serious."_

Blue eyes narrowed, watching as the jounin's gaze darted between Naruto and Sasuke. With her instruction, the two shinobi had managed to back Kakashi into a corner. The man was smart. He had already realized her position. More than likely, it had been because she could not contain her excitement. She had given away her position by speaking and attacking him from the rear. Mayu, crouching on a branch of the tree, arrow aimed at the silver-haired man. Of course she wasn't trying to fatally wound him, but it didn't hurt to have leverage. If he tried to escape, her arrow would penetrate his leg. "Your move… sensei," the kunoichi whispered.

He did move, but not in the way she had anticipated. Instead of moving backwards, he had jumped up. "You're not getting away!" Naruto shouted. He brought his hands together. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" The five clones quickly jumped after the man. Kakashi merely maneuvered around the multiple clones, even using them to propel himself higher. He launched a single kunai from his hand, aimed at the tree Mayu found herself in. She could see the flapping—sizzling—note attached to it. Eyes widening, the kunoichi let her arrow fly. She had aimed for the note, but the two projectiles sailed right past one another. _Shit_, she thought. "Mayu!" Naruto called out.

Sasuke realized something had gone wrong the moment he had seen his former teacher make an attempt with the kunai. His eyes shifted to red as he made his own move. Around the young Uchiha, chakra and lightning danced. "**Chidori Surge**." Faster than a blink, Sasuke disappeared, reappeared behind his female teammate and grabbed her sides, and then rematerialized in the exact same spot he had vanished. Less than second later, the tree exploded, filling the night with noise and light. Mayu lowered her weapon and relaxed her body. He could feel her trembling. It had been because of the current. It had taken awhile for his body to be completely unaffected with using this form of lightning manipulation. His teammate turned her head a bit to look at him. Sasuke found himself raising a brow, wondering about her reaction. She'd properly compliment him, thinking of ways to incorporate his ability in future endeavors.

"That was _cool_!" She didn't disappoint. That gleam showed in her eyes. That familiar look she got whenever her mind raced with possibilities. Sasuke let himself smile a bit. He had missed it. "You should have said something earlier!" The young Uchiha removed his hands from her person, allowing her to stand up. He followed suite, shifting his eyes to his former sensei. The man was still fighting off wave after wave of Naruto clones. "What to do? Kakashi-sensei doesn't seem to be going easy on us anymore." She winced, seeing a nasty strike from a kunai slash through a clone. She slid her bow behind her—between her back and jacket. She then cracked her knuckles. "Let's get serious, too."

"If you insist," Sasuke agreed. He took off towards the fray. Not willing to be left behind, the kunoichi ran at his side. That is until she dropped down to all fours and picked up speed. She reached Kakashi first, tilting forward and balancing on one hand. Her legs came up, forming the arc of a cartwheel. Distracted by Naruto's clones, the jounin couldn't stop her legs from wrapping around his neck. She lifted her upper body, spread her arms out, twisted, and jerked her body—all to slam the silver-haired man to the ground. Sasuke followed by jumping up. He came down, knee digging painfully into the man's back. He felt something crack because of the impact. Based on where he had hit, it had been the scapula. _Hm_… Perhaps he should have gone easy on him, after all? _"I'll take care of it later…."_

Mayu released her hold on the man's neck. "Not a clone, eh?" she grinned as Sasuke stood up straight. Kakashi coughed out. "And here I thought you decided not to go easy on us."

"My fault…" he mumbled. With speed the teens weren't expecting, the jounin hopped to his feet. A spinning hook kick knocked the kunoichi away from him. He then focused on Sasuke, using the momentum of his spin to punch. However, the Uchiha quickly shifted to right, dodging the strike all together. The man didn't let up, though. A barrage of punches were sent his way. Sasuke avoided them all. It wasn't too surprising. His current teacher must have drilled it into his head. _Do not get hit—no matter what._ It was the job of the medic to stay out of harms' way, after all.

Naruto was getting frustrated. Really frustrated. His former mentor had seemed to focus his attention on solely Sasuke. Seeing it had brought memories of slight favoritism the man had shown when they were just kids. Not only that, but he honestly didn't like his teammate getting attacked like that. Though the Uchiha was holding his own, it still frustrated him. If he was completely honest, the young blond also felt kinda excited. Looking at Sasuke dodge every single strike was great. He had become even faster than before. Naruto slowly breathed out and closed his eyes. It was time for some support. He smacked his hands together, concentrating on gathering his chakra.

When the moment was right—when Kakashi's back was turned—Naruto dashed forward. He had to make this quick to take the man by surprise. The blond nearly dived towards the jounin. His arms wrapped around Kakashi in a full nelson, and then forcing his chakra, Naruto jumped up. Over the sound of the howling wind, he could hear his opponent yelp in surprise. After all, they were so high up now. Grinning, Naruto lurched back and began the rotation. "**Uzumaki's**…!" Faster and faster he moved, swinging Kakashi's body along for the ride as he descended. "**Rapid Seismic Body Toss**!" With a final turn, the blond shinobi had slammed the jounin against the ground, which had caused a minor quake.

Eyes wide and mouth agape, Mayu stared at her teammate. The damage he had done to the ground, using another one of his signature moves, had been great. However, what had her in awe had been greater. Uzumaki Naruto was _floating_ above the slowly dissipating shroud of dirt. She had to catch herself from screaming in pure glee. First Sasuke with his teleportation ability, and then Naruto with his flying—if her teammates kept this up, she would end up passing out from all the potential strategies she could use. For now, though, she suppressed her excitement in favor of focusing on the damage. Finally, the shroud disappeared, revealing the crater and giant decaying log. Well, the remnants of one, anyway. The substitution hadn't been able to handle the impact with the ground, and so had shattered upon collision. "He took cover," Sasuke called out, causing his teammates' head to swivel in his direction. "Follow me!" The Uchiha took off to the right. Nodding, Naruto and Mayu followed after him.

0~0

The trio managed to find their former sensei a few minutes later. Sasuke's tracking skills were impeccable. With his back to a small river, Kakashi only stared. His cute team _had_ grown. It made his insides swell with pride, watching them slowly advance. However, what they were after—he couldn't allow them to just take. He recalled a time the three had tried to desperately to see underneath his mask. Oh, how disappointed they had been when he had purposely revealed another mask under his original one. The man smiled at the memory. He had thought they had forgotten about their desire to see his face. It was looking as though they were merely waiting to become stronger to try again.

Ever hasty, Naruto was the first to move. He shot forward, using his ability of flight to attempt to close the distance. Kakashi shifted a bit, moving his hands in front of him in various hand signs. He held back a grimace. The movement was causing strain in his back. The earlier hit from Sasuke had come back to bite him. Still, he could hold on longer. He could see that the pace of his hands stunned the blond shinobi by the widening of his eyes, but he continued to move toward him. The copy-nin inhaled, and then breathed out. "**Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu**!" The ball of light and heat skated across the field. Its large mass had obscured his view of the three. Kakashi had to wait for the destructive power of his ninjutsu.

When the jutsu cleared, his trio had completely disappeared. Only the burnt and sizzling ground remained. The jounin shifted his gaze from side to side. Then above. Even Naruto was no longer hovering in the sky. The three had seemingly vanished. _"From all my senses…?"_ Kakashi thought. Even his Sharingan couldn't locate any of the three. In the corner of his mind, he had expected the girl to be thoroughly trained in cat-like stealth. She was Ishikari, after all. But her teammates—they shouldn't be able to use her ability. Only members of the clan knew it and only members of the clan could learn it. Or so he thought. The clan had been a secretive bunch, after all.

That's when he heard it—the sound of the dirt cracking and breaking. It had come directly behind him. He felt his ankles being grabbed. The slight gasp escaped his mouth. Sharply twisting his upper body, he looked down to discover chakra enveloped hands had wrapped around his ankle. Kakashi's eyes widened, recognizing the type of chakra. There was a distinct popping noise, followed by excruciating hot throbbing. It shot up from his legs to his brain, inciting a shriek of pain. Any command his brain sent to move his legs only caused his lower half to practically snarl in protest. Even the slightest movement caused his body, as a whole, to suffer. _"A semi Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu, followed by the Chakra scalpel,"_ he thought, gritting his teeth. _"Must be Sasuke…"_ Squeezing his eyes closed, the jounin realized he had been successfully immobilized. But how…? He should have sensed him, even underground.

"_HAAAAH_!" Kakashi's eyes snapped open. He had become so distracted by the pain and his own thoughts, he had forgotten about a possible aerial strike. Just in time, the jounin lifted his arm, blocking the punch that came from the yellow-haired ninja. The block came with pain since it had caused his lower half to tense upon impact. As he winced, squeezing his eyes shut again, he missed the follow up kick. Naruto had rammed both soles of his feet into his chest, and then using that brunt of contact, had ricocheted himself away.

The jounin almost toppled over, but managed to catch himself and stay upright. This lasted until Sasuke pulled him almost completely underground. His headhunter jutsu had been completed. For a few tense moments, all was quiet, and then Naruto whooped in glee from his spot in the air. The copy-nin bowed his head in defeat. They… They had beaten him. Truly beaten him. So alarmingly different from almost three years ago. His kids were respectable ninja now—working together like they had. He couldn't be prouder. Despite the loss, he couldn't help but internally smile. Now completely immobile, Kakashi stared up at the grinning faces of his three subordinates. Well, two-thirds of them were grinning. The last one only smirked in victory. With Sasuke, it counted as a grin.

From his position in the ground, he saw that Mayu had her arm wrapped around Sasuke's torso. Though he could clearly see both of them, he could not, for the life of him, use his other senses to find their actual presence. Then the kunoichi detached herself from her teammate. Instantly, his senses were filled with the young Uchiha. Seconds later, the young Ishikari also came into his senses. Had she… even concealed someone else in her stealth? "How's that, sensei?" Sasuke asked as Naruto stopped hovering and stood next to his fellow shinobi. "Payback's a bitch." _Ah_ yes—the Headhunter Jutsu is how he had caught Sasuke before in the first training exercise he had made them take.

"_Mah, mah_… Still holding onto a grudge from that time?"

"Not anymore," came the wily retort. On his right side, Mayu giggled. Sasuke glanced her way before letting a small smile cross his face. Then he turned his attention back to his former sensei. "Mission complete," he stated. "We retrieved what he were after."

"_Eh_…? But I still have my mask on," Kakashi pointed out.

"_Hehehe_!" Naruto dropped down, squatting. "We were never after your mask!"

"But you said-"

"That was only a ruse," Mayu explained. "It was to lure you into a false sense of security. Just in case we made grabby motions, you would attempt to protect your face and not what we were really after. Clever, right? Naruto came up with it." The blond laughed again, blushing a bit because of the compliment. The kunoichi lifted her left hand, which had been hiding behind her back the whole time, and waved the object around a bit. "_Tada_…!" Kakashi's eyes widened to comical proportions. "We pilfered your copy of _Make-Out Violence_!" The man stammered out an unintelligible sentence, but she assumed he wanted an explanation. "When you used that fire jutsu, it was the perfect cover. Sasuke realized immediately that your hands were too fast for any of us, and so we had to restrain you first before attempting to nab this book."

"Though that fire jutsu could be deadly, Mayu used it as cover," Sasuke continued. "With it, the two of us went underground."

"Which led me to disappear for a bit!" Naruto went on. "I went so high that I got out of your sniffing range!" He stood up to his full height, crossing his arms and giving off a smug aura. "Sasuke took out your legs, I gave the final distracting blow-"

"And when Sasuke pulled you under, I got the book," Mayu finished. "How is it? Did we impress you, sensei?"

"… Yes," Kakashi admitted. His confession made their eyes light up, even Sasuke. "You three have made me proud. I taught you teamwork in the past, and you used it effectively against me." The man nodded his head as best he could. "I fear for anyone that has to face this team as enemies." Naruto and Mayu laughed loudly and attached themselves to the young Uchiha, whom merely rolled his eyes. "Now… can I have my book back? I was in the middle of rereading it."

"You'd think he'd be more concerned about being in the ground," Mayu muttered, shaking her head.

After a few moments, Kakashi had been successfully plucked from the dirt. He had been laid down, allowing Sasuke to heal his internal injuries. His shoulder blade had been fixed, and now the medic of the trio was working on his severed tendons. The glow of green chakra were watched by fascinated eyes, yet Sasuke kept is red gaze locked with the procedure. Once he was finished, he lifted his palms. "It's finished," he announced. The jounin did not take his eyes away from the page, but he did murmur his gratitude.

"Sasuke…! You're so cool!" Mayu exclaimed. "You worked hard all this time, haven't you?" The dark-haired shinobi regarded her for a moment. She truly looked pleased with his healing jutsu. The Mystical Palm technique had looked easy, but it hadn't been without stress as he had strove to perfect it. He had struggled, struggled more than he ever had learning from the Fifth Hokage. Mayu recognized it. That had reaffirmed the reason he had set out to learn from Tsunade. He had done it for his team. Now that they were back, reunited and stronger than ever, he would make damn sure they all stayed that way. "_Oi_… That look on your face… I recognize it." The kunoichi smile grew so much wider that it looked like it hurt. She reached across Kakashi's body and poked his cheek. Sasuke blinked at the contact.

"Me, too!" Naruto, at his side, leaned closer, nudging his ribs. "You were just thinking about protecting us again, weren't you, _Sasuke-kun_?!" The young medic-nin sharply turned his head away, breaking away from her touch. He could feel his cheeks warm in embarrassment. Naruto's laughter wasn't making it better either. "It's been almost three years, but you still love us so much, don't you, Sasuke?"

"N-No! I hate you both!" He shot up to his full standing height, and then stormed off.

Mayu chuckled softly before she, too, stood up. He hadn't changed much. Still denying how much he cares. It was good to be back—to be home. It was good to be with her team again. With my boys, she thought. Grinning, she stepped over the jounin's body and stood by Naruto's side. It was nice, but Sasuke didn't have to worry so much. She would defend them with everything she had. _"That's right. Heal us, avenge us, love us… But I will be the one to make sure we all stick together."_ With that thought in mind, the kunoichi nodded her head, determined. Suddenly, an arm slung around her neck. Mayu turned to left with curious eyes. Naruto, though, wasn't look at her. He watched his fellow shinobi's departing figure.

"_Uwaa_…! Sasuke turned into a tsundere!" he stated.

"_Teh_! He was always like that—hard on the outside, soft and warm on the inside," Mayu replied. "It's cute. He's cute."

"Yeah…" Finally, Naruto's blue eyes shifted to Mayu. It had been too long. Being on the field again with his teammates—it felt great. He had missed the thrill of it. He had missed _them_. His first friends. His family would start doing missions again. Honestly, he couldn't wait. To think it was only yesterday that they had been split up. But those days were gone—just memories. From this point on, they would be together again. No matter how dangerous the situation, he would shield them. Count on it, he thought. "So… Let's catch up to our Sasuke and get dinner," Naruto suggested out loud. Mayu nodded her head in agreement. The two hurried after their tsundere-like teammate, calling out his name.

"How cute…" Kakashi smiled underneath his mask.

0~0

Obnoxious laughter filled the air. Three teens made their way through the empty streets of town. It was so late now. Many—citizens and ninja alike—were no longer lingering. Sasuke still took a cautious look around. His teammates didn't seem to mind that they were still in public despite the lack of bodies. He pursed his lip as Naruto turned to grin at him. The laughter had faded, from Mayu as well, but the mirth stayed behind, lighting up the two pairs of blue eyes. "No joke?" he guffawed. "Granny actually pelted _bombs_ at you?!" The young Uchiha clicked his tongue, partly annoyed. He hadn't wanted to talk about that woman's training. However, somehow, it had come to light. Some of it, anyway. All throughout their meal, the three of them had discussed their time apart. They had veered away from the training topic, but in the end, Naruto's curiosity couldn't be satisfied that easily.

"I don't understand why you think that's funny," Sasuke murmured, crossing his arms. "We all had that form of training at one point, courtesy of Ishikari Mayu and Pervy Sage."

"Yeah," the kunoichi agreed. Her eyes crinkled because of her smile. "But we could dodge. You had to stand there and take it. Poor Sasuke—enduring training like that. No wonder you didn't want to talk about it." He scowled at her. Had that been an attempt to comfort him? He clicked his tongue again. She giggled. She seemed to be doing that a lot more than he remembered. Giggling. The kunoichi suddenly yawned, not bothering to cover her mouth. She stretched her arms high above her head as she released a high-pitched groan. "Well, it's been a real slice, but I think I'll turn in now." She relaxed her body and flashed a grin. "We've got a big day tomorrow. Don't stay up too long, boys."

"What? You're not coming with us? I thought we could do a sleepover!" Naruto protested. Sasuke glared at him. He hadn't agreed to that.

"We have plenty of time to do that," Mayu explained. "But I want to see Yasmine." She appeared thoughtful for a moment. "I'll come and get you guys in the morning. See you." Without room for argument, the kunoichi turned and ran off, waving her hand as she did. Sasuke watched her go until she was out of sight. His female teammate hadn't changed much. Still making decisions on her own. He didn't notice the slight tug of the corner of his lips.

Gradually, Sasuke turned his attention to Naruto, whom was in the middle of pouting. He even had the nerve to poke his index fingers together as he mumbled incoherently to himself. An aura of betrayal if he ever saw one. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, the dark-haired shinobi realized that talking his fellow shinobi out of a 'sleepover' would prove to be futile. Annoyingly futile. Heaving a sigh, Sasuke got his attention. "Let's go. If I leave you out by yourself in that state, Mayu will have my ass." Naruto immediately broke out of his dejected posture and leered at him. Pressing his lips to a thin line, Sasuke instantly regretted his choice of words.

"And _not_ in a good way!" The blond wiggled his eyebrows, probably thinking it had been a good retort. This time, Sasuke did roll his eyes. Naruto suddenly shot his fist to the sky. "Alright! Let's go! The Uchiha compound awaits!" He turned abruptly, marching off. The Uchiha shook his head a bit, and then moved. He fell into step with his blond teammate. They walked in silence, but the excitement could be felt rolling off Naruto in waves. Sasuke needed a distraction, lest the blond would attempt to destroy something once they reached his home.

"I wanted to ask you something, Naruto," he spoke. Blue eyes glanced his way. "Where did you get the idea of flying?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he walked. He had watched his comrade whilst he hovered. With his Sharingan, he could see—well, infer really—how Naruto managed to do it. All over his body, steady bursts of chakra had been released and had mixed with the wind around him. It was an interesting concept.

"_Hm_… I first came up with it when we were all still together. Remember—Pervy Sage took us all to look for Granny. I blurted out ideas after learning the water walking technique. I brought it up again when me and you were left in the hotel room. You had to be a jerk and say 'When are we ever going to have to walk on fire? Dumbass.' So mean!" Those had probably been his exact words. Even now, the concept of fire walking was ludicrous. "But you didn't say anything about _air walking_! I kept the idea with me for so long, and when Pervy Sage told me I was a natural wind jutsu user, I started practicing. It was super hard to get down, though."

"Fascinating. Can other people learn it?"

"I guess they could," Naruto replied with a shrug. "But with my chakra reserves, it's easier for me to maintain flight a lot longer. I don't have to worry about chakra exhaustion when I air walk." Sasuke held back a grimace. He really hoped that wasn't the coined term. Still, perhaps he would try to learn as well. Despite the seemingly dangerous repercussions of an average person using it, it would be an unsuspecting advantage in battle. "What about you? How'd you come up with teleportation?"

"Like you, I have a natural affinity for elemental jutsu. Lightning manipulation is mine," Sasuke answered. "It was pretty much a trial and error way of learning. Medical training took most of my time, so lucky me that working with lightning came naturally. Otherwise, I would probably only have my medical ninjutsu to work with. Probably."

Naruto decided to ignore the casual way Sasuke had bragged. "I wonder if Mayu has a surprise, too…" he murmured. The Uchiha made a noise with his throat. It sounded vague enough to be annoyed, but Naruto knew his comrade. It had actually been curious type of grunt. "She didn't really show much except that she can make us completely undetectable, too. And she's always been good at taijutsu. I can't shake the feeling that she didn't show the results of her training."

"I'm disappointed, Naruto."

"_Eh_?! Why?!"

"If what you showed while fighting Kakashi is the only thing you can do after all this time-"

"_Eff_ you, Sasuke! Of course I didn't give it my all against him!" Naruto nearly shouted. "I just didn't want to hurt him too bad!"

"Mayu was thinking the same, and so was I," Sasuke explained. The blond blinked, and then relaxed his tense shoulders. "She usually has something else up her sleeve. If Kakashi were an enemy, with our individual training coming together in teamwork, he would've died… Then again, Kakashi had been holding back, too." He shut his dark eyes for a moment. "Stop getting so worked up. All of us have gotten stronger. You don't need to worry about her hiding things from us. Not anymore."

Naruto eyed his teammate from the corner of his eye. He had sounded so confident in their abilities, though he hadn't actually seen what they were really capable of. He almost couldn't believe it. Uchiha Sasuke believed in his teammates. The realization made his cheeks warm. In the past, this had been a person he had considered a rival—someone to stomp all over before reaching first place. He had hated Sasuke's guts at one point. Surely Sasuke had felt the same, if not utter indifference. Actually, Naruto was pretty sure that his now friend and teammate didn't even consider anyone in his age group to be on the same level. Now here he was, blindingly placing his trust in the growth of his teammates. And even defending the reason Mayu hadn't displayed other abilities…

"I… I guess you're right." Naruto's mouth split into an open-mouth smile. "You're such a cute guy, Sasuke."

"Shut up, idiot."

0~0

"I'm home…!" Mayu called into the darkness of her apartment. There hadn't been a reply. Last time was like that, too. She had assumed her best friend had been stuffing her face somewhere when she had come back the first time. Now her roommate must be sleeping. The kunoichi lightly kicked off her shoes and stepped further in. She looked around, eyes finding little things that weren't there before. Like the coffee table. And the wind glass wind chime. The television was new, too. The wall had a few decorations as well. Touch of Yasmine, she had called it before. She had to wonder if Yasume had any input on the décor. "_Nah_..."

Silently, she moved, heading towards her bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, leaving Mayu to open it fully. There, underneath the open window, slept Yasmine Dalton on her bed. The lavender colored comforter lay haphazardly on top of her body as the girl drooled on the matching pillow. The kunoichi chuckled at the sight. Entering the room, she flipped on the light switch to the left. The room was drenched in artificial light. This did little to arouse the sleeping foreigner. She did groan something unintelligible in her sleep. Then she could understand her. "Give me back that ssstrawberry!" Mayu blinked. The words hadn't been surprising, but the slight hiss that had accompanied the demand had been odd. With a shrug, the kunoichi walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. She shook her friend's shoulder a bit. It had never taken much to wake her up. "_Hmfph_…?" Her eyes blinked several times as she sat up. Her gazed settled on Mayu. Recognition showed, and then a sharp gasp escaped. "You're home!"

"I'm home," the blue-eyed kunoichi repeated. The foreign teen latched on to her in tight embrace. Mayu returned the squeeze with equal vigor. "I missed you so much, girl!" After a few more moments of the fierce hug, the two teens released each other, smiling widely. "What? Didn't expect me this soon?"

"No! I didn't! I saw Naruto and Jiraiya-sama earlier, but I thought you would arrive much later," Yasmine stated. "I didn't know you were in the village! Did you see them—Sasuke and Naruto?" Mayu nodded her head, and then explained how she had met up with her teammates and how they had ambushed their former sensei. She then told her that they had gotten something to eat afterwards. "Wow… You three… I'm glad you're back together again."

"_Eh_? So I'm not Mary-sama anymore?" Mayu teased. Yasmine gave a playful shove. "So how have you been? What's been going on with you?"

"A lot, actually," Yasmine answered. She stood up, and then jumped off the bed. Mayu watched her, noticing that her feet hadn't made much noise when they had hit the floorboard. The foreigner walked over to the desk and pulled out a drawer. She pulled out an object, and then whirled around, showing it off. "I'm a ninja now!" The object, was in fact, an official metal plate engraved with the insignia of the Leaf village, sewed on black fabric. "Chuunin to be exact!"

"Chuunin…?!" Mayu echoed. The foreigner rapidly nodded her head, clearly enthusiastic. "_Ah_—congratulations, Yasmine! Nice job!" She took the compliments with flushed cheeks. She turned back around, placing the headband on the desk. She then lifted a squared frame. "Ah, is that your team?" Yasmine nodded, walking back over to her friend. She sat down before handing the picture frame over. Mayu couldn't help the widening of her eyes as she gazed down at the photo. "Anko-sensei, Kin, and Tayuya!" Blue eyes stared incredulously at Yasmine.

"Yup!" A proud grin lit up her face. "After I graduated from the Academy, I was put on this team—Team Kunoichi. Anko-sensei won't tell us how and why she became a jounin sensei, though. We're best buddies." Mayu directed her gaze to the photo again. In the captured memory, Yasmine posed for the camera, fingers lifted in a gun pose. The fingers of her right hand were tugging on Tayuya's cheek. The redhead looked absolutely livid at the contact and eyes daggers were focused solely on Yasmine. Kin stood on Yasmine left, hands brought up. It had either been a sign of soothing or a block in case things had gone awry. A nervous smile had tugged at her lips. Behind the younger kunoichi, Anko had been in the process of rolling her eyes, arms crossed, and looking 100 percent done with her team's shenanigans.

"I can tell," Mayu said, tone flat. Yasmine either didn't recognize the sarcasm or didn't care. Either way, she had plucked the frame from her roommate's hands, and then returned it to the desk. It had been placed right next to her circular framed photo of her team. Funny how she didn't notice it before. Then again, she had been exhausted and fell asleep so quickly the first time she came back. "This is good news. I am happy for you."

"It's something to keep myself preoccupied. It's just a bonus I get paid for it."

"Well, I'm going to hop in the shower and turn in. I'm probably going to be busy tomorrow," Mayu stood up and headed towards the door.

"Yah, we'll have plenty of time to talk later since you're back," Yasmine agreed with a nod. "I'll get the futon out for you."

"Why do I have to sleep on the futon?"

"Because _I_ paid the rent for two years!"

"… Touché."

As she had conceded, she had walked out into the hallway. Smile on her face, Yasmine headed over to the closet, intending to set up the cotton-covered mattress for her roommate. It was awesome having her back. It was as Yasume said, things were getting ready to pick up again. With the return of the main characters, it would be different this time around, but it would be welcomed. It was time for Mayu and herself to face the consequences of how things had gone in the past. Would they be good or bad? After the smoke cleared, would they be able to come to an agreement that their actions had altered things in a good way? Only time would tell. But for now, Yasmine was going to have her fun with her best friend. She had a lot more to tell her. There was a nagging feeling in the back her mind, though. She had to tell Mayu something important—a warning, maybe. For the life of her, she couldn't remember, though.

"WHY IS THERE A SNAKE IN THE GODDAMN BATHTUB?!"

"… _Ah_… Forgot about CL."

0~0

"… In conclusion, they were successful," Kakashi finished his report. He blinked once, and then went on with his assessment. "It wasn't the bell test that I had planned, but they got the job done regardless. Naruto's use of his clones have gotten better; his power of flight was surprising. Sasuke's evasive maneuvers were impressive, and so was his medical expertise. Mayu's strategies have always been great, but tonight she demonstrated her clan's ability and used it effectively to have her comrades retrieve my most precious object. Though, they showed their skills, I get the feeling that all of them held back against me. The three of them completed their objective without letting their enemy know too much of their skill. They have grown into substantial ninja." Staring at the proud faces of their temporary mentors, the jounin let his lips twitch into a smile. "I left them in your care and they had surpassed my expectations. Thank you for drawing out more of their potential." Jiraiya crossed his arms, smug smirk on his face. The Hokage couldn't hold back a similar expression. Behind her laced fingers, surely there was a self-assured smile. Beside the two Sanin stood Ishikari Morino. He chose to keep his face impassive. Kakashi's light tone turned serious. "But… I think I'll be taking my kids back now." Their smirks faltered somewhat.

After a few quiet moments, the Fifth Fire Shadow released a sigh. "Alright," she said. There had been a slight strain in her voice that could have been mistaken for begrudge. "I shall return Uchiha Sasuke." The other two males in the room nodded their heads, agreeing to relinquish their mentor status of Uzumaki Naruto and Ishikari Mayu. "From now on, the three will take on missions again. However, unlike before, they will be their own ninja. It is no longer teacher and his students. You will work together as equal ninja of the Leaf village."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

0~0

Finished July 8, 2014

Despite my philosophy 'Teamwork makes the dream work,' I absolutely hate writing it. Jeez—it is super hard to write three on one fights. Or two on one. Or even two on two. My god! Out of all the entire chapter, that fight took the most time to write.

**Bell Test**: Although it wasn't the official bell test, the same concept applied and I am glad how it turned out. They were able to take Kakashi's book without relying on his 'weakness.' And whilst I'm on the subject, I watched the Shippuden bell test several times in order to draw inspiration from it, make sure it wasn't the same as what I was writing, and I realized something. Naruto and Sakura _did not_ use teamwork _at all! _As strong as they were, I believe they could have gotten those bells if they had simply _worked together_. But they didn't. They probably wouldn't have needed to take advantage of a weakness. I was not about to downplay this story's Team 7 skills and bond in order to take that route. No, I refuse.

Once again, I say that my philosophy is _teamwork makes the dream work_. This will be a reoccurring theme in this story.

Next time: _Get Your Crayon_

I'm looking forward to seeing your reviews_._


	3. Get Your Crayon

"What to do…?"

Mayu sighed inaudibly, and then opened her eyes. Her gaze rested on her two teammates. They were, of course, sleeping. Bright and early, Kakashi had appeared before her, requesting that she gather Naruto and Sasuke, and then report to the Hokage's office. That had been almost fifteen minutes ago. She rushed to prepare and to get to Sasuke's in a reasonable amount of time. However, her two teammates seemed to be in a deep slumber. She didn't even try to hide herself, and yet they were so unaware. Perhaps she should start sneaking up on them on purpose. To make sure their reflexes were up to par. Yes. Purely educational. No wicked intentions at all. Even still, a mischievous grin spread across her face as she continued to watch them.

As if sensing her intent, Sasuke suddenly groaned in his sleep. The kunoichi instantly froze. For a few tense moments, she remained that way. Once it was clear that the young Uchiha would not wake up—at least without help—she relaxed her body again. Naruto slept, body crossing over his fellow shinobi's back. There was a damp spot due to his drool. She imagined Sasuke wouldn't be too happy if the drool had gotten on him. He, as always, made faces in his sleep as his arms cushioned his head. It was times like this that made her wish for a portable camera. But… It was time for them to wake up already. And so, without preamble, Mayu raised her foot in preparation for her usual way of waking them up. To her slight chagrin, Naruto came to life, grabbing her ankle as it came down. Her other foot was then swept from underneath her by Sasuke's well-aimed leg.

She jerked her body back, forcing her leg free of Naruto's grasp. Mayu balanced her body in a one-armed handstand before she sat down on the floor. Dark eyes glared. "Even after all this time why is that still your way of waking us up?" Sasuke questioned as Naruto yawned audibly. The kunoichi merely grinned at him. With sleepy eyes, Naruto scratched at his stomach. He then yawned again. "Why are you up so early anyway?"

"Kakashi-sensei woke me up and said to get to the Hokage's office. I was going to come and get you guys, anyway, just not this early." She lied her body down, left hand clenched and propping her head up with the use of her elbow. Her other arm lay stretched across her body. "You want to blame someone, blame sensei." She then yawned loudly. "I'll take a nap while you two get ready, if you don't mind." Her eyes had closed before an answer had been given.

Sasuke resisted rolling his eyes as he stood up. Beside him, Naruto did the same. The blond stretched his arms, scratched at his scalp, and then trudged towards the open door. Mutters of food fell from his mouth as he moved. Great. His refrigerator would be raided again. The Uchiha supposed that he would have to get used to that again. A heavy sigh escaped his lips. His dark eyes took a final glance in Mayu's direction before he, too, left the room. As he moved, he began to ponder what type of mission they would receive. As genin, they had been given C-rank missions—once the Fifth had become officially instated, anyway. Tsunade had bent the rules and given a team of genin those types of missions because she 'had faith in the little brats.' Now that they were all chuunin, could she work her magic again and land them a B-rank or even A-rank?

As long as it didn't come down to another D-rank, he would be satisfied. In addition to his training with the Fifth, he also had to complete many D-rank missions. She didn't let him leave the village at all under her tutelage. Even with the Uchiha district belonging to him, he still needed the money for other things. He had completed countless D-rank missions because of that. Surely his mentor wouldn't give out a chore now that his team was back together again. _"Then again,"_ Sasuke thought, holding back a grimace. _"I did call her old woman recently. She can be spiteful when she wants to be…"_

"What are you doing in there, Sasuke?!" The shout, equipped with banging on the door snapped the dark-haired shinobi out of his thoughts. "I need to wash up, too, you know?! It's been fifteen minutes!" Sasuke's gaze slid to the door. Had it really been that long? "Don't tell me you're having your alone time right no-"

"Shut up, idiot!"

The door suddenly opened, bringing a rush of cold air with it. Sasuke opened his mouth again, preparing to demand that his teammate immediately close the door and wait his turn. However, words didn't reach him. Instead of just Naruto, it was Mayu, too. Releasing a strangled gasp, he plunged his body deep in the bath, praying the kunoichi couldn't see his indecent state. "Seriously, though, Kakashi-sensei is probably waiting for us," she said. She didn't bat an eyelash. Sasuke didn't reply, on the account that his mouth had been under water as well. How could he forget? Ishikari Mayu wasn't the type to scream and cower at the sight of naked flesh. He would have to be careful around water again, too. "Finish up your business so we can go."

"_Hehe_! Yeah, Sasuke, finish up your _business_!" Naruto laughed out. The way he had said it implied something that wasn't true. Still, he couldn't risk shouting now since the kunoichi's eyes hadn't strayed from the bath. Fortunately, his blond comrade placed an arm around Mayu's shoulders and guided her away, closing the door behind. After a few moments, the water bubbled up around his nose. Those two idiots would be the death of him.

0~0

"It's been so long since I've been on a mission!" Naruto exclaimed. He, and his teammates, Kakashi, too, were headed to the Hokage's office. They had met up at the entrance, exchanged small talk, and then began making their way. Honestly, the blond couldn't contain his excitement. "I'm so pumped!" Only Mayu seemed to share his enthusiasm. She high-fived her comrade and declared that they would complete this mission 'lickity-split.' He had never heard that phrase before, but it sounded like she meant the mission would be done quickly. Deciding to file that phrase away for later, Naruto nodded his head.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Kakashi told them. "Our team consists of experienced ninja now."

"More than likely, no matter what the mission, it will take days to complete," Sasuke agreed.

Two sets of blue eyes glanced behind. Naruto and Mayu both scoffed. They missed the vicious look from their dark-haired comrade. Before he could attempt to strike them both, Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder, perhaps knowingly. Whilst Sasuke calmed himself, his two teammates entered the Hokage's office, leaving the other half of Team 7 to follow suit. The team was greeted by Tsunade with a small nod of acknowledgement. "Have you settled in alright?" the Hokage asked. Mayu smiled and nodded. "So then you're ready to hear your mission then?" That question received an enthusiastic nod from the blond. "It is investigative work." As if waiting for the backlash, Tsunade paused. After a beat of silence, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Naruto merely blinked. Slightly surprised, she continued. "As most of this team consists of chuunin, you will experience many missions such as this." She slid a paper forward on her desk. Kakashi was the one to step forward and receive the details of the mission. "It's in a small village on the outskirts of the Land of Water. Recently, they have had a string of missing person cases. It was only late last night that we have received their request for help."

"How many have gone missing?" Sasuke asked.

"In the span of three weeks, three people have completely disappeared," Tsunade explained.

"For a small village, that is a lot of people in a short amount of time," Mayu remarked. "Sounds like an urgent matter." Her eyes narrowed.

Again, the leader of the village nodded her head. "I'll let Hatake fill you in the on the details," she told them. "However, I do want to mention… This mission is classified as C-rank, but it could easily become of a higher rank depending on what you find. Your objective is to find the missing people and discover the reason for it." The team chorused an affirmative. "Dismissed." The four ninja bowed respectfully, and then left. The Fifth watched them go, frown on her face. "I'm surprised Naruto didn't protest at all. Maybe Jiraiya did do something right with him after all."

In the hall, Naruto groaned loudly as he grabbed at his cheeks with both hands. "Why does Granny hate us so much?! This doesn't sound exciting at all! I wanted to show—really show off my new skills!" His teammates gave him flat looks. It seemed that their favorite blond hadn't changed at all. No, he had gotten more dramatic, it seemed. Sasuke heaved a sigh. Well, at least he had learned not to show his ass in front of his leader. The young Uchiha really didn't feel like fixing anything upon their return to the Leaf. "Anyway, anyway, what do you think happened to all those people?" Naruto asked after he had calmed down.

"We'll know more once we get there," Kakashi stated. "For now, we pack. On the way there, I'll tell you what's in the report. Meet at the gate in ten." The jounin took off, using his chakra to jump across the buildings. If he had let them, they would have informed him that they had already packed for the trip because they had anticipated leaving the village. Their bags had been sealed into a scroll due to Naruto's fūinjutsu. He had begun learning the simple technique almost immediately after leaving the village. Jiraiya had been adamant about him learning, too, according to Naruto.

"Should we just head to the gate?" Mayu asked. Sasuke shrugged indifferently while Naruto made a noise of consent. The three headed off, goal obviously the entrance of the village. However, it didn't take long before the kunoichi of the trio became distracted. Her blue eyes spied a mess of long red hair a few meters away. There, sitting on a bench was a familiar person. She wore a thin tan colored shirt, which revealed both of her shoulders. Underneath the shirt, there was a dark tank top. She also wore low rise black cargo capris, with drawstrings securing the hems just under her knees. Standard black ninja sandals and a tan wrist guard on her right arm completed her look. The black beanie on her head had the metal plate of the Leaf village attached. Though her appearance was a bit different, the kunoichi was still Tayuya, former kunoichi of the Sound.

As if sensing eyes on her, Tayuya shifted her head a bit, gaze focusing on the three chuunin. She promptly turned her head away again. A normal person would have taken the hint. Mayu didn't. In fact, she had increased her pace so that she would reach her fellow kunoichi sooner. "Good morning," she greeted. Tayuya gave an exaggerated sigh. "I heard that you are teammates with my roommate. I wanted to introduce myself as such." Naruto and Sasuke stood beside their smiling teammate. "Please take care of her."

"If only I fuckin' _could_!" The harsh tone that came from the red-headed kunoichi caused Mayu's brow to twitch. "Where is the little shit, anyway?" Finally, her brown eyes shifted back to the dark kunoichi. "She was supposed to meet me here an hour ago!" Mayu made a face. "What?" Chuckling nervously, the dark-haired kunoichi answered that she believed Yasmine had been sleeping when she had left. "I'm gonna kill that little shit!" Tayuya nearly jumped from her sitting position, looking beyond irritated. Before she could stomp off, however, arms slithered around her and hands latched on to her breasts. The contact caused most to stare. Tayuya, however, practically roared in fury. "Cut that out, fucker!"

"_Ehehehehe_…" Seemingly having had appeared behind her, Yasmine did as she was told, wide grin on her face. "I can't help it, Tayu-chan! They're just so cute and _perky_."

"PLAY WITH YOUR OWN GODDAMN BOOBS!"

"But they're not nearly as-"

"Shut up, shithead!"

Yasmine only ignored her teammate. She turned towards Team 7. "Oh, hey, you guys are still here?" she questioned. As if the previous exchange had been normal, she nonchalantly side-stepped an oncoming punch from Tayuya. Then she hopped from the bench right in front of Mayu. The blue-eyed kunoichi decided she wasn't going to ask. "You don't have a mission, after all?" Without warning, she shifted her body to the right, dodging another strike. She then turned, ramming her fists into the redhead's torso a total of three times.

"You _bitch_…!" Tayuya groaned, falling helplessly to the side. Her body collided with the wooden bench and didn't move again. After a beat of silence, Yasmine stood up straight, moving out of her fighting stance, and then turned back to her roommate. She innocently repeated her question as though she hadn't just incapacitated her own teammate.

"… We do," Mayu hesitantly replied, eyes focusing on Yasmine once again. "We're on our way to the gate. Does your team have a mission today?"

"_Nah_, we're going to get Kin and prepare for Anko-sensei's scavenger hunt—it's a training exercise," Yasmine explained. "Even on our days off, she has us do things like that."

"That's a nice concept, actually. She used to do that with me. It was not fun."

"Tell me about it," Tayuya grumbled. "Can we go now? Kin's probably wondering where the fuck we are." Yasmine nodded her head in agreement. She picked up her comrade, holding the paralyzed body of her teammate across her shoulders. After saying good bye and good luck, Yasmine waved, and then departed.

"… Are we _not_ going to talk about how a girl just grabbed another girl's boobs?" Naruto asked. "Because, you know, I'm all for that discussion."

"I'm used to it. Yasmine doesn't have much shame," Sasuke remarked in a 'meh' type fashion. "Reminds me a bit of someone else…" His eyes settled on Mayu's form, to which she looked perfectly offended.

"When have I _ever_ felt you up?!"

"I can name a few times, actually."

"Shut up."

"When did Yasmine become a ninja, anyway?" Naruto questioned.

The group continued on, Sasuke being the one to fill his teammates in on the happenings of Team Kunoichi. He had been the only one to truly know. He also told them he had interacted with them the most during the separation. He admitted to disliking most of them. His confession only caused Naruto to remark how scary his teammate was to anyone other than his own teammates. The young Uchiha ignored that comment, choosing only to increase his pace. Mayu hurried after him, and then stood in front of him, blocking his path. Sasuke halted, raising a brow. "Yasmine told me… You treated her well while I was gone. Thank you."

"I didn't do it for you," he stated. His index and middle fingers made contact with her forehead and pushed her out of the way. Mayu groaned dramatically as she gripped the metal plate. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her antics. "That girl latched onto me. Once, I caught her referring to me as _onii-san_, even though she's older than me. She has some twisted as logic."

"Can't say I disagree."

"Seriously, we're not going to talk about the boob grabbing thing?"

0~0

"This really is a small village," Kakashi remarked. His eye had finally strayed from the orange book he carried. He closed it and placed the object in his pouch. Naruto absentmindedly nodded his head as his eyes took in his surroundings. This place was nothing like any of the places he had been to previously. There were houses scattered about the area, what seemed like an inn on the far side of the village, and that was about it. More than likely, the inn had been the most lucrative thing in this village. Or maybe they had some type of valuable export. Something profitable must have come from this since they were able to pay for four elite ninja. He grinned at the thought. "I suppose we should get started. I will get us a room and confirm our arrival with the client." Kakashi had already explained the gist of the mission during the trip. Without a trace, people had disappeared from their homes. "I want you three to begin investigating." He handed Sasuke a slip of paper. "These are the addresses in which the disappearances have occurred. Start with the first address and I will start with the second address. We'll convene at the last." The three chuunin nodded their heads in understanding. "Well, get started."

"Yes!"

Kakashi smiled slightly, waved them off, and then separated from the younger ninja. They watched him go until he was out of sight. Mayu clapped her hands together twice, signaling the start of their mission. Dark eyes scanned over the paper. Names were under each address listed. Residential owners and the person that had turned up missing. It took a few minutes to locate the first address on the list. Upon knocking on the door, they waited until locks were turned before being greeted by an elderly man. He smiled at the trio, yet it did not reach his eyes. "Hello," he welcomed them. "I see that you are Leaf ninja, coming to find my granddaughter…?"

"Yes," Mayu replied with a slight bow. "We are ninja sent to investigate the whereabouts of missing people here. My name is Ishikari Mayu. These are my teammates Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Could we come in?" The man quickly nodded his head, and then allowed the group of teenagers into his home. He commented that the leader of their small village informed the other villagers of their expected arrival. "Our sensei is speaking with your leader right now." Again, the man nodded. He showed them to a room equipped with a yellow couch and matching living room chairs. The color had faded over time. The man told the teens to sit while he fetched refreshments.

"Yoshino Tetsu-san," Sasuke supplied as he and his teammates sat down on the couch. He, in the middle, and Naruto and Mayu on either side of him. "His granddaughter was the first to go missing—Yoshino Yuka. This might be the most important place where we can get information. Whether they are merely missing or someone is taking them—we try to discover it here, okay?"

"Okay!" Naruto agreed out loud while Mayu merely dipped her chin.

After a few moments more, Tetsu returned with a circular tray and glasses. He set the glasses, filled with tea, in front of chuunin before he sat down on the right chair. "You have probably answered a lot of questions regarding your granddaughter's disappearance. However, we ask that you provide the information that we ask today to the best of your ability," Mayu began. The older man's hands grip the train but he did nod. "First, I want to ask what type of person Yuka-san is. Things like what she did in her free time, her work environment, friends—things like that."

"Yuka-chan… is a reserved girl. She keeps to herself mostly, so not many friends," Tetsu answered. His lip quivered a bit. The slight tremble did not go unnoticed by the Uchiha. "But she is kind and loyal. She's not the type to engage in confrontation. She helps me about the house on her days off. She works at the town inn."

"How old is your granddaughter?" Sasuke asked.

"She will be twenty-three in a few months."

"So what happened when she disappeared?" Naruto questioned. "Anything strange happen before you realized she was missing? Has anyone come to this village recently?"

"No. No, nothing out of the ordinary. I actually believed that she had gone off to work. She comes home immediately after work, so I thought it had been strange not to hear her come in. Still, I thought maybe… maybe she had stopped at the market. Then a full day went by… I found out later that she had not shown up for her shift." He paused before continuing. "There haven't been any visitors recently, no. Everyone knows everyone in our village.

"Are you the only two here?" Mayu inquired, leaning forward a bit. Tetsu tilted his head and answered that her parents had passed many years ago. "I see… Yoshino-san… May we take a look at her room?"

"Yes. I haven't… touched anything. I left it as I found it." Tetsu stood up, ushering the teens to follow him.

"Thank you."

As to not appear rude, Mayu quickly sipped her tea until the glass was empty. Sasuke and Naruto did the same. The blond shinobi, though, made a face at the bitter taste and scratched at his tongue. His fellow shinobi cuffed the back of his head. Naruto punched his shoulder. Mayu tripped both of them to make them stop. Tetsu did not notice the slight altercation. The teens shuffled after the old man, both shinobi glaring at their kunoichi teammate. Down the hallway and to the right, there was an open door. The old civilian explained that the door had been open the morning of her disappearance. "You're welcome to look around—anything to bring Yuka-chan home." Tetsu then left the group to go about their business.

"Spread out," Sasuke ordered. His demand had not been met with resistance. His teammates took the opposite walls in the simple room. He decided to examine the bed. The room was a clutter, almost hard to navigate. Clothes and books littered the floor. However, the bed had been made. The rest of the room full of the woman's things, and yet the bed had been the only thing that was neat. This missing woman may have led a quiet life to her grandfather, but her room painted a different picture. The old man had said nothing had been out of the ordinary so he knew about her room already. She was messy but it was her mess. The bed was an anomaly. Many people were sluggish coming out of sleep and disoriented. Most flung the cover away uncaringly. More than likely, the missing woman fell into that crowd. The young Uchiha moved closer, eyes narrowed. He squatted down, touching the navy cover. _"It might be just a quirk…"_ he thought. _"But it's still questionable."_ It didn't make sense that she would take the time on her way out. However, it did point to her leaving willingly. Sasuke returned to his standing position. He glanced at the window. Shut and locked. No signs of entry from the outside. Another sign that she left on her own.

"_This must be her…" _Mayu thought. From the wooden dresser, she picked up a photo of the missing woman and her grandfather. Short brown hair and brown eyes, petite body type, and a well-mannered smile. Judging by her room, she almost thought it wasn't the same person. _"She must be the most comfortable in her room."_ The kunoichi set the photo down, and then shifted her attention. The artificial light shined down on her. There were oddities in this room, however, they were only a whole piece of the puzzle. This wasn't enough to determine if this was a runaway or a victim. _"For Yoshino-san's sake, I hope she only left the village by her own will."_ It had been far too long since her disappearance. Normally, that was a bad thing.

Naruto scratched his head as he looked around. This place was a mess. Not worse than what his own room looked like on occasion, but still pretty bad. He had believed girls were tidy and organized. Then again, he only ever had Mayu to go on. His teammate had been adamant about cleaning his residence before. And when he normally stopped by her place, it had always been clean. Yuka must be pretty different from what her grandpa described. Blue eyes honed in on the end table, which was aligned with the wall. On it, there was a cup of ramen. The chopsticks were still covering the lid. His hand gripped the Styrofoam, noting that the contents were soft. He lifted the lid, wincing at the sight of the broth and noodles. _"What a waste,"_ he thought. _"Wait a minute…!"_ Naruto held the chopsticks up to his face for closer inspection. "_Ah_! Yuka _was_ kidnapped!"

His exclamation caused his teammates to train their eyes on him before making their way over. Mayu looked back and forth between the pair of chopsticks and Naruto. Sasuke blinked once, and then narrowed his eyes. "Don't refer to her as Yuka," he admonished. His fellow shinobi ignored him, brandishing the object like a prize. "So…?"

"This proves it! She was taken!" Naruto proclaimed. "_These_ were never dipped in the broth. Wooden chopsticks get bigger when they're submerged in ramen. At least partially, the ends would be noticeably bigger if they were used."

"Wood swells when it comes into contact with liquid," Mayu agreed. "But how does prove she didn't leave on her own?"

"She cooked ramen, went through the trouble of waiting for it to cook, and then just decided to leave it without even taken a bite! That's weird!"

"For you, maybe," Sasuke remarked. Naruto made a face. "But I have to agree with the logic. Not many people would prepare a meal, and then just leave it. Also, she made her bed. Why would she do this?"

"There aren't any signs of forced entry, though," Mayu stated. "Yoshino-san is a cautious man with several locks on his front door. An intruder would have had to break in, but there's no evidence to support that. The locks on the door aren't new either, so they weren't installed recently. This room had been locked, too, as far as the window goes." The kunoichi crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. "No signs of an intruder. Many things point to her leaving, yet small things contradict that. This case is a strange one."

"For now, we'll head to the last address," Sasuke informed his teammates. "Kakashi might have other insight regarding the second home. Let's go."

0~0

As it turned out, the jounin had showed up an hour later to the last address. The older male had to deflect several sharp eye daggers and even sharper words from his favorite team. His excuse of helping an old woman find her missing glasses had only seemed to make them more hostile. Clearing his throat, he signaled that it was time to get back to business and their pointless hostility would only extend the length of time they would work on the mission. Begrudgingly, Sasuke had to agree. Still, he wasn't happy. He had almost forgotten what a pain it had been to wait for Hatake Kakashi.

"The second address didn't yield any evidence of an altercation. Everything seemed quite normal. Kurosawa Naomi-san, age twenty, vanished from her bed. Her boyfriend woke up in the middle of the night to find her gone. No sign of beak in. Her shoes were gone, too. It isn't until I left their home did things start getting strange," Kakashi explained. He went on to explain that he had tracked the woman's scent on the outskirts of the village. The trail had ended at the edge of a river. It had been as though she had either vanished or jumped into the body of water. Her scent did not appear anywhere close by the vanishing point. "The same goes for Yoshino Yuka-san. Her scent also disappears by the river."

"You went to the first house, too?" Naruto questioned. The man's 'I had time' response caused the blond shinobi to glower. Kakashi then asked what the trio had learned from the first address. Naruto decided to fill him in. Mayu followed up with their collective comments regarding the strange details of the missing woman.

"_Mm_. I came to the same conclusion in regards to the second woman," Kakashi stated. "Let's look around at the last missing person. According to the leader of this village, her name is Yuki. She lives alone, so we're going to have to find a way in…" He trailed off, noticing that one of his subordinates had dropped down in front of the door. Fingers worked nimbly with the small metal tools. With a snap, the lock had moved to its neutral position. With a smile, Mayu stood up and faced the males of her team. "When did you learn how to do that?"

"Everyone needs a hobby," she shrugged. The kunoichi opened the door and backed into the small house. With a shake of their heads, the three shinobi followed after her. Naruto leaned closer to Sasuke and whispered that he was glad she had gotten over her card trick phase. The corner of his lips twitched into a smirk as the Uchiha nodded his head in agreement. "I _heard_ that! Start looking around for clues already!"

The team split of then, searching for evidence. Again, there were no signs of a break in. The house in its entirety had been wiped down, though. Not a speck of dust. Sure, the house was small, not even having another level, but the cleanliness of the place was borderline anal. It had been a passing remark, but Naruto had taken it to a whole other level, which caused Mayu's teammates to bicker. Something about how Sasuke would know all about it according to Naruto and Sasuke retorting with his fist. She ignored the groans of agony and the heavy sigh of her sensei in favor of peering into the woman's bathroom. As her eyes scanned over the room, her eyebrow rose higher and higher. Finally, she shut the cabinet and pressed her lips into a thin line. For a woman, this Yuki didn't have many essentials. _"In fact, there are absolutely none here…"_ Mayu thought.

For a moment, the kunoichi stared at her reflection. It was probably something trivial, like she ran out, but Mayu still decided to file away that information. Kakashi stepped into the small bathroom, giving it a once over. Then his single eye focused on her person. "Find anything useful?" he questioned. The kunoichi shrugged before closing her eyes. "But you do think it is strange?"

"Yes," she answered. She turned to face him, arms crossed under her chest. "Once is an occurrence. Twice is a coincidence. Three times—now there's a conspiracy." The jounin nodded his head. "These three women, within a certain age range, disappeared. Also, their images to the public are relatively the same. Quiet, ordinary, perhaps even shy. Plus, they have the same place of employment. This leads me to believe that they were targets and someone went out of their way to make it seem as though these women left on their own. I think our next step is to go to the hotel and question their coworkers." Kakashi smiled, impressed.

"Very good, Mayu," he praised. "We'll head there after we're done here. Honestly, your investigative work is better than I expected." Mayu remained silent, but her cheeks did darken a bit. She didn't have the heart to tell him about her fascination with Conan Edogawa. "We-" A sharp cry interrupted whatever the jounin had been about to say. The surprised shout had come from the other side of the house. Mayu moved quickly, only crashing into Sasuke since he had been rushing in the same direction.

They halted once they reached the bedroom. Naruto, the one who had shouted, stood stalk still beside a dresser. Sasuke's eyes moved, attempting to find whatever had distressed the blond. He found no signs of an enemy. The Uchiha returned his focus to Naruto. Mayu walked over to him, slight frown on her face. "What's the big idea, Naruto?!" she asked. "I thought something-" The shinobi thrust an object in her face. "_Oi_!" The kunoichi stumbled back in surprise as her hands came up and grasped the rectangular picture.

"I found this in the top drawer! There's no panties, by the way, and-"

"Why were you looking for panties?" Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't! Just look at the picture!"

Sighing, Mayu did so. Her eyes grew wide as a gasp escaped her throat. "What is this?!" she exclaimed, clearly surprised. "It's Zubuzu! It's definitely Zubuzu!" Sasuke snatched the picture from her fingers. He didn't recognize the name, but she and Naruto would not know a person that he hadn't already met as well. In the photo, there was a man. His form sat in a chair with his shoulders slumped forward and his arms crossed. His head was dipped, appearing as though he had dozed off. A small white rabbit sat on his lap. It wasn't the side profile that had caused his teammates to react in a dramatic manner, though. The man had short spiky black hair, pale skin, and bandages covering the bottom half of his face. Sasuke recognized him as Momochi Zabuza, the first dangerous opponent Team 7 had come across. Kakashi, who had just entered the room, lifted the photo from his hands.

"_Hm_… It would seem this might be more complicated than we realized," he commented.

"This isn't an official photo," Sasuke stated. "It's a personal photo. The angle indicates that the person who took it was close to him and caught him with his guard down." He narrowed his eyes as the object refreshed in his mind. "Also, its years old—maybe a decade since the image is faded this much. This woman has a photo of a dangerous missing-nin. Why?"

"Hey, I just realized! That's the only picture here!" Naruto said. "There's not one other picture or decoration in this entire house. That's strange, too, right? What does Yuki even look like?"

"Don't call her that," Mayu murmured. "But it is weird. Kakashi-sensei, were you shown a picture of what she looks like?"

"No, actually…"

"Why? Is she not registered as a citizen?"

"She is, but a photo was never submitted," Kakashi explained. "The leader here is a bit lax when it comes to citizenship in this village since it's so small. He wants to expand their numbers, so if a person 'forgets' to provide a photograph or other trivial information, then its fine." Mayu did not like that sound of that. "I'll retrieve a copy of the village's record of her before we settle in at the hotel."

"Thank you…" The Ishikari rubbed at her left temple with two fingers. She heard Naruto ask if something was wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to answer. Her mind was in the process of sorting and going over information. She felt like she had pieces to a puzzle, but they weren't fitting together. Something about this last victim was scratching at her brain, and she didn't know why. Okay. So the picture of Zubuzu—er, Zabuza—was just damn weird. The fact that this woman had no tangible proof of her face was also weird. And the name—Yuki—why did that information keep popping back up in her mind? Mayu squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head a bit. _"Come on, Mayu! Why is all this information relevant?!"_ To be honest, it shouldn't have mattered. The woman still needed to be found like the others, but… her mind clearly wanted to solve the puzzle. No décor to display personality, photo of Zabuza, no panties—what the hell, Naruto?—and the name, Yuki. Oh, and then there weren't any essentials in the bathroom either. That's when it came to her. Like a bag of pebbles had smacked her across the face. "OH MY _GOD_!"

Her shout had caused her teammates to flinch. When she had gone into a daze, they had left her, figuring she would be at that for a while. They hadn't been wrong, of course. It had been about three minutes before her shout had caught their attention. Despite the years, Mayu still had the habit of getting distracted by her own thoughts. The kunoichi, not even perturbed that she had been left in the bedroom by herself, dashed toward them eyes wide and mouth open. Kakashi was the first to question her behavior. Mayu only repeated her earlier shout, this time with her hands on her cheeks. "Spit it out, Mayu," Sasuke demanded.

"You are _not_ going to believe this!" she exclaimed. "She's a _he_!"

"What?"

"What?"

"Whaaaat?!" Naruto had been the only one to match her volume. "What do you mean?! Where did you get that idea?"

"There is absolutely nothing in this house that indicates that a woman lives here!" Mayu answered.

"That could mean she just ran out of supplies."

"No, Sasuke!" Mayu refuted, seemingly annoyed. She blinked, and then her expression softened a bit as his words sunk in. "But nice to know you about these things. I'm counting on you in the future from now on." To his chagrin, his teammate even had the nerve to wink. He could just tell she was already thinking of ways to use his knowledge by forcing him to pick up certain things. He had had enough of that from Tsunade and Shizune. The Uchiha scowled and told her to explain. "I don't need to. You already know what happens every mon-"

"I _meant_ about the gender! What makes you so sure this woman is a man?"

"Oh, right." Mayu shook her head. Naruto scratched at his scalp, not understanding the conversation. "But the lack of feminine touch isn't the only reason I know about the true gender. I know his identity. We've met him before. The third person missing is _Haku_. Zabuza's Haku."

"Shut the front door!" Naruto appeared incredulous. "Haku? Crystal Ice Mirrors Haku?"

"That's just it! Ice! Yuki! That name is a surname. Haku's advanced bloodline came from the Yuki clan of the Land of Water."

"How do you know that?" Kakashi asked. Mayu deadpanned. Sasuke and Naruto both stared at him as well as though they could not believe he had asked. Surely, he knew the kunoichi liked to gain knowledge about pretty much anything that intrigued her or helped her team. It happened later for the two shinobi, but Mayu had always treated each fight she had seen or experienced like a lesson and it would be up to her to expand her knowledge. "Oh, right, sorry. My mistake." The jounin held his hands up in mock surrender. "Yes," he went on. "But why Haku? For all we know, she could be a fan with an unhealthy obsession with a missing-nin. That does happen occasionally."

"What type of fan only has one picture?"

"I suppose that's a valid point."

"Trust us, Kakashi-sensei. Mayu would know!" Naruto teased. "I can't tell you how many pictures of Gaara I found in her apartment."

"_You_ don't have room to talk! Don't think I don't know about Gaara-kun's baby pictures hidden away in your closet!"

"Confidence! I told you that in _confidence_!" Naruto's shout came with reddening cheeks. "And they're not baby pictures! He's a toddler! Toddler!"

"... Do I even want to know how you managed to get baby pictures of Gaara?" Sasuke questioned. The blond squeezed his lips together, signaling he would not speak anymore on the matter. "See? _That's_ unhealthy."

"_Eff_ you, bastard!"

"_Anyway_," Mayu loudly continued with a roll of her eyes. "Like I was saying, it wouldn't be too surprising to find that Haku found this village and attempted to start his life over. He was quite the passive mercenary, after all. If people viewed him as a woman, it would be enough for him to blend in and not worry about his past coming back for him. Plus he didn't have to give an actual photo of himself. This village could very well be a sanctuary for people who don't want to be found." The kunoichi furrowed her brow. "But regardless of all that, I truly feel he was targeted based on how he is perceived."

"I trust your instincts, Mayu," Sasuke stated. "And I get where you're going with this."

"_Mm_." Naruto nodded his head. "If whoever is making these people leave their homes finds out about his true gender, they might get angry enough to… start killing. We have to find them all before that happens!"

"But that's the thing, Naruto…" Mayu mumbled. "If I'm right and it _is_ Haku, this mission is about to get a whole lot more risky. He was passive, but he wasn't a pushover. Could _just_ _anyone_ make him do something he doesn't want to do?"

"Then we no longer have the luxury of playing it by ear," Sasuke stated.

"We'll have to plan for the worse, after all," Kakashi replied. "So much for an easy mission." The three chuunin actually seemed more enthusiastic now that the parameters of the mission had changed. Naruto and Mayu gave each other a high-five while Sasuke obviously repressed a grin. The jounin couldn't bring himself to feel uneasy about their reactions. They were still his cute little team, after all. "Alright. We will question the inhabitants of this village, starting with the employer. Let's go."

"Yes!"

0~0

Finished August 19, 2014

You may or may not be aware of the latest chapter update for _My Life as Ishikari Mayu_. Let me tell you, it blew me away. As vague as it was, the implications behind it freaks me out. I don't know if I'm reading too much in between the lines or what, but I think TFK-fan118 has come up with a game changer. She flipped the script, and so that changes the direction that I had wanted _this_ story to go. But then again, it could just be me interpreting what was revealed completely wrong and I really don't have to worry about it. But better safe than sorry, so I will be brainstorming a lot more…

**Canon events**: So this is obviously a transitional type of chapter. And obviously, this is not something that happened according to Kishimoto. This mission is my own creation because it does tie into the story as a whole. Now, there will be canon occurrences, of course. But just like the prequel, those events are going to have a spin to them. So look forward to it.

Next time: _Blow Your Mind_

I'm looking forward to seeing your reviews.


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